Design Better Design Better Experts in Residence: Roundtable at Sequoia Capital
28 snips
Jan 14, 2026 Irene Au, a former design leader at Yahoo and Google, and James Buckhouse, a Design Partner at Sequoia, delve into the evolution of design in tech. They discuss the transformative role of design in startups, emphasizing storytelling and creativity. The panel reflects on the impact of AI—balancing efficiency and creative friction—while advocating for preserving human craft. They also explore the cognitive effects of AI dependency and link beauty in design to natural ratios, enriching the discussion with insights from their diverse careers.
AI Snips
Chapters
Books
Transcript
Episode notes
Design As User Transformation
- A startup product is a vehicle for transforming its users from who they are today into who they become after using it.
- Designing for that transformation makes design uniquely suited to lead product strategy and experience decisions.
Blend Skills And Use Your Design System
- Blend skills across disciplines: interaction, visual, research, and front-end knowledge increase your value as roles compress.
- Learn to reference your design system and component library when building to keep outputs consistent and implementable.
Building Yahoo’s Human-Centered Program
- Irene built Yahoo's human-centered design program to bring user research into core practice because developers had never watched people use their products.
- That shift helped teams move from assumptions to empathetic insights about user behavior and needs.
